Exchanging Grain for Brocade

Upon returning to Qingming, Wei Yuan unfolded a map and resumed studying the dossiers on the seven western commanderies of Ningzhou. The seven commanderies enjoyed four distinct seasons and abundant resources, making them a fertile and prosperous region even within Western Jin. Most of the industries across these seven commanderies were controlled by the Xu family; the remaining prominent clans controlled a smaller portion, the Western Jin imperial court held ten percent, and various local middle-to-small wealthy households outside the Xu family held another ten percent. The seven commanderies were also a land of mulberry and rice, highly productive in textiles, and the Ning brocade produced there was renowned. Ning brocade was sumptuous and extravagant, dazzling in its vibrant hues. Crafting it required immense time and labor, and master artisans could weave patterns as vivid and intricate as paintings. The seven commanderies boasted numerous venerable, famous establishments, such as the Mi and Yao firms, all of which were prominent brocade houses. Ning brocade was widely coveted across various races; beyond its domestic use among humans, nobles of the Liao Clan and the Shamans also had immense demand for it. Spring had only just arrived, the transitional period between planting summer and autumn grain crops in the fields, while autumn was the season for planting supplementary mulberry saplings. Whenever Wei Yuan read up to this point, he would fall into contemplation. After careful consideration, Wei Yuan departed Qingming and went to visit Sun Chao'en. In the commandery seat of Bianning Commandery, displaced refugees were noticeably fewer. The previous season's grain harvest had just come in, and it was also time to resume spring plowing, leading to a marked decrease in displaced people forced to leave their homes. Upon arriving at Sun Chao'en's estate, Wei Yuan noticed that Sun Chao'en's entire aura had undergone a change. An aura of resplendent luster emanated from within him, and having put on a noticeable amount of weight, he appeared all the more gentle, refined, and smoothly consummate. Understanding the reason, Wei Yuan remarked, "It seems Brother Sun will form your dharma idol in a matter of days. Allow me to offer my early congratulations on your success!" "At my age, how could I ever compare to your fierce, rapid progress, worthy brother? Still, with the aid of that Three-Flavor Immortality Ascension Pill, I do have a fair bit of confidence in forming my dharma idol this time." After offering his congratulations, Wei Yuan turned to the main topic: "I need to find several large merchant caravans traveling back and forth to Ningxi to help me sell grain and purchase Ning brocade and mulberry silk." Sun Chao'en was startled. "You want to sell grain?" At this time, summer grain was entering the market, yet grain prices everywhere remained exorbitant, which was why massive waves of displaced refugees kept appearing. Furthermore, fighting on the northern border had dragged on for half a year, keeping grain prices stubbornly high. By now, Qingming's grain stockpiles had reached six hundred million jin, far more than it could consume on its own. Moreover, Wei Yuan was continuing to open up new farmland. As the transformation of the surrounding world progressed, the crop yields per acre across Qingming's grain fields were steadily climbing as well. "And how much of that brocade and mulberry silk do you want?" Wei Yuan said, "For the first batch, at least a hundred thousand bolts of brocade and five hundred thousand jin of mulberry silk." Sun Chao'en was astonished once again. This was a massive venture worth a million taels of immortal silver, enough without question to drive up prices across all seven commanderies. "Can you really use that much silk and brocade, worthy brother?" "Not at present, but we can sell them to the west," Wei Yuan replied. Sun Chao'en furrowed his brows in thought before speaking after a moment: "The amount of silk and brocade you want to buy is immense. I'm afraid we'll have to contact those venerable brocade houses. I shall begin planning and making arrangements at once. I still have some classmates from the civil examinations and old acquaintances in those commanderies who can help broker the connections. Especially since we are trading grain for them, there won't be any problem whatsoever." With grain prices soaring and supplies virtually unobtainable at any price in many areas, using grain for barter was even more effective than immortal silver. "Then I leave everything in your capable hands, Brother Sun." Wei Yuan was pressed with numerous affairs, so once the matter was settled, he took his leave. After Wei Yuan departed, Sun Chao'en immediately summoned several caravan masters, conferred secretly with them for two hours, and then set about writing letters to acquaintances across the various commanderies of Ningxi. Ningzhou, Shanyang Commandery. This was the most famous producer of mulberry and brocade in all of Ningzhou. Three major brocade firms were based here, controlling over sixty percent of the mulberry groves and eighty percent of the brocade workshops. Inside the great Mi manor, the master of the house had just arisen from an afternoon nap. Brimming with energy, he strolled over to a side courtyard to feed several fierce tigers kept there. These tigers were extraordinarily ferocious; the Mi family had always fed them live prey to preserve their wild nature. In the commandery seat, several arenas regularly held fights between humans and beasts, with every bout fought to the death. These tigers were frequent contenders there. Just then, a young man entered, beaming with delight, and called out, "Father, wonderful news!" A moment later, the master of the Mi family sat in his study, reading through the letter before him in detail, remaining silent in contemplation. The young man urged anxiously, "Father, we have to make a decision quickly! This order is for twenty thousand bolts of brocade and a hundred thousand jin of raw silk. The buyer stated that they will want at least this much every year going forward! If we don't take it, the Yao family and Xu family will pounce on it without hesitation. When that happens, they'll outstrip us!" The master's brows remained tightly furrowed, his silence unbroken. Right then, the head steward rushed in and reported, "Master, Yuhu Village suddenly reneged on their agreement and sold the nine hundred mu of mulberry groves we had negotiated for to the Yao family!" The master flared with rage, slamming his hand hard against the desk. "What? What price did the Yao family offer?" "Their offer was a full ten percent higher than ours!" A chilling glint flashed in the master's eyes. "Those rebellious scoundrels! Daring to tear up what they promised my Mi family for a mere petty profit—they are truly seeking their own deaths!" The young man pressed, "The Yao family must have received an order as well, which is why they're expanding so aggressively! Father, we can't hesitate any longer!" The master replied slowly, "Who are these people on the other end? Where do they intend to use so much silk and brocade?" The young man said in exasperation, "Father, why do you care what they're using it for? They're paying in hard cash—they can even barter with grain! And they move incredibly fast. Haven't you seen that grain prices in the commandery seat have already dropped by thirty percent? It's all because their grain carts have arrived!" The master insisted, "Go investigate further. Make sure to find out exactly who they are and why they are purchasing so much brocade and silk." Meanwhile, in the Yao manor on the east side of the city, the head of the Yao family was hosting a banquet for a guest, attending in person. The guest of honor at the feast was an elderly man of serene countenance, strikingly a Dharma Idol cultivator of extraordinary bearing. Cradling a cat in his arms, the old man remarked, "For the family head to host a banquet personally, this old man is truly somewhat overwhelmed by the honor." The head of the Yao family appeared to be a middle-aged man, with a cultivation base at the late Dharma Idol stage—the Heart Aspect Realm. Yet although the elderly guest across the table clearly possessed a lower cultivation than his own, he constantly gave the family head a chilling sense of danger, as if seated beside a ferocious tiger. Consequently, the Yao family head dared not look down on him in the slightest—especially since the man had arrived bearing a massive order. After wine had made three rounds and the mood was ripe, the family head finally asked, "May I ask, Mr. He, when you mentioned earlier that there would be an identical order next year, did you speak in earnest?" The elderly man surnamed He chuckled softly. "To tell you the truth, next year's order will only be larger! I have placed orders with several other families as well, with the volume allocated according to each family's capability. Of course, if a certain family demonstrates greater sincerity, adjustments are not out of the question." A fiery gleam entered the family head's eyes, yet he still inquired, "Then forgive my presumption, but where is all this silk and brocade heading? Who could possibly consume so much?" Elder He smiled slightly. "What is so difficult to deduce about that? The family head might consider: in the entire Western Regions, who could produce so much grain?" Startled, the Yao family head lowered his voice: "Could it truly be the Military Commissioner? How could his Lordship need so much silk and brocade?" "His Lordship garrisons the western frontier, and the entire western gate now rests firmly within his grasp. As for this silk and brocade, naturally, as much as you can supply can be put to use." Enlightenment struck the Yao family head. He realized that Wei Yuan intended to reopen trade with the Shamans! Such dealings could not be brought into the open, but in the past, everyone had engaged in them. The Xu family in particular had even treated human sacrifices as their primary trade good. Desirable though silk and brocade were, they were far less lucrative than sacrificial humans. That made complete sense. If trade with the Shamans was reopened, all the silk and brocade across the seven commanderies combined wouldn't even be enough. This was a road to immense fortune! The Yao family head made a swift decision: "If you can increase your required volume by another fifty percent, I can make the call right now to reduce the price of the silk and brocade by another twenty percent!" The old man was thoroughly pleased and laughed. "The family head is indeed a man of vision and decisive action! In that case, I will reassign half of the Mi family's order to the Yao family!" Hearing that the cut would come from the Mi family's order made the family head even more ecstatic. He repeatedly urged more wine, and host and guest enjoyed themselves to the fullest. Late at night, after the old man had departed, the Yao family head regained his sobriety. He ordered a map brought forward, studied it closely, and then circled an area with a brush, commanding, "Convert all twenty thousand mu of land in this county to planting mulberry saplings!" The clan elders nearby were all taken aback, protesting in unison that this could not be done. What if Wei Yuan didn't want the brocade in the future? Wouldn't all that land and produce be left stranded in their hands? The family head snorted, however. "Even if Wei Yuan stops buying brocade later on, as long as he honors his word for these two years, I'd dare to add another hundred thousand mu of mulberry fields! With these lands, we can suppress the Mi family. Hmph, they've occupied the top seat for eighty years; it's high time someone else took their place!" "But..." "No buts! A Dharma Idol cultivator not even twenty years old—do you really think he won't survive another three years?!" Pondering this carefully, the clan elders reached an understanding, their knit brows unfurling. Back in Qingming, Wei Yuan was still studying the dossiers on the commodities of the seven commanderies. Exchanging grain for brocade was merely the first step of his plan. Qingming possessed Jia Wood Life-Mystic, granting it an inherent advantage in cultivating grain. Wei Yuan planned to flood western Ningzhou with low-priced grain, prompting more people to switch their lands over to mulberry and silk. If this continued for three to five years, silk and brocade yields across the seven commanderies would inevitably surge, and brocade-weaving artisans would sprout up like bamboo shoots after rain—yet this would also squeeze out artisans of other trades. By now, Wei Yuan had already sent information regarding looms into Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, where several mortals were dedicated to researching improvements to looms. In Xu Wenwu's notes, it was said that the rise of the otherworldly realm had begun with the loom. Dispatching large amounts of Ning brocade to the Shamans would allow him to trade for urgently needed materials as well as blood yingluo. Wei Yuan had come to realize that this evil longevity-extending object was the ultimate stepping stone to open doors into high society. Furthermore, by using Ning brocade for trade, Wei Yuan could also redeem some living human sacrifices. The greatest advantage was that no matter how much Ning brocade was shipped west, it would not augment the Shamans' combat prowess in the slightest. With his strategy determined, Wei Yuan transmitted a divine thought to the mortals within Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains. Several hundred mortals promptly began offering worship before the statue of Tianyu. Within half a day, a heavily injured Tianyu appeared before Wei Yuan. Gazing at Wei Yuan with deep grievance, he said, "I remember giving you a token to contact me." Wei Yuan's face flushed with embarrassment. Unwilling to admit that he had completely forgotten about it, he could only offer a vague excuse: "The signal was poor and the token didn't respond, so I had no choice but to resort to this. My sincere apologies. But... how did you end up so severely wounded?" Tianyu burst into another fit of violent coughing, nearly coughing up blood, before sighing, "I've had this injury for over half a year. Back then, for reasons unknown, I was suddenly struck by a devastating blow and nearly perished. The attack came out of nowhere, and even now I have no idea what caused it. Fortunately, after recuperating for this long, I'm mostly recovered." Wei Yuan froze. Calculating the timeline in his head, a wave of guilt washed over him.